New Year Necessities
by kagomesbutterflyfeeling
Summary: Its New Year's Eve and Kagome wants to go home, naturally, and ends up dragging a curious half demon with her. The two enjoy the special occasion that the whole world celebrates, along with making a few resolutions for the future as well. InuKag. Oneshot


**Wow, first fanfic and my first New Year's resolution, fulfilled. I'm impressed. I wrote this at 11pm on New Year's, so if its cliché' (which it is I think) then I was just in that mood and the six cans of soft drink, bags of lollies and all other goodies were telling me too. Moving on, enjoy this New Year's based fanfic, even if it is...alright, 8 days late.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and co. But I'm working on it, it's my other New Year's resolution.**

**Enjoy!**

**New Year Necessities**

**By: kagomesbutterflyfeeling**

"SIT!"

_WHAM!_

"Wench! What was that for?!"

"Inuyasha, you're such an insufferable, insensitive jerk! All I ask is to go home for three days! Just to help my family and celebrate ringing in the New Year! I'm going Inuyasha!"

"And I said no, wench! You have a duty here! You can't just leave m-_us_ out of the blue like this!" Inuyasha growled out, pulling his face out from the ground after his latest 'sit' command from Kagome.

'_Damn beads.'_

"Inuyasha, I don't _just _have a duty here, I have one at home to my family! They need me, this holiday is one of our busiest times of the year, and goodness knows neither Grandpa nor Mama are getting any younger and they need me to help with all the visitors and food preparations, not to mention all the other odd jobs," Kagome huffed, throwing her deflated yellow monstrosity of a bag over one of her shoulders as she stormed out of Kaede's hut.

She bid her farewells to the demon slayer, Sango, and her loyal, fire-cat companion, Kirara, who both kindly wished her luck evading Inuyasha. Next was the notorious lecher of a monk, Miroku, who was very calm and polite about everything, despite the fact he was sporting a fresh, vibrantly glowing handprint on his left cheek. He was soon followed by the ever-adorable young kitsune Shippo, who also thoughtfully gave her a small drawing created by him. Kagome couldn't help but give a barely visible smile at the picture of her using the beads of subjugation strongly against Inuyasha.

Not seeing Kaede, Kagome asked Shippo to say goodbye to the highly respected priestess for her, which the easily excited kit proudly agreed to do so.

Of course the quickly-to-be-aggravated half-demon wasn't going to take this all in stride and stalked Kagome all the way to the bone eater's well; the mysterious structure that allowed the modern day schoolgirl's presence here; 500 years in the past. Reaching the wooden ledge of the dry well, Kagome paused, reluctantly, when she felt the firm grip of Inuyasha's clawed hand on her shoulder.

"Inuyasha..." she growled out, then felt him tense behind her.

"What the hell is it that you're family needs you for so desperately?" he questioned in a much calmer tone than before, probably trying to avoid another 'sit'.

Kagome sighed, holding back her anger somewhat in hopes of preventing herself from erupting much like a volcano would and start another serious fight with her beloved hanyou needlessly. What a perfect way that would be to start the New Year.

"It's New Year's Eve, Inuyasha. Lots of people come over to the shrine to buy small trinkets for luck and good omens for the New Year. Grandpa and Mama really need me around to help out, we usually get quite a large number of people throughout the whole day," she explained slowly, anticipating the following question at the lost look Inuyasha sent her.

"What's a 'New Year'?"

Since she had previously turned around to face him, Kagome watched him cutely tilt his head to one side and blink, his arms crossed over his chest. At that moment, she had his undivided attention, so she cleared her throat and ploughed on through her explanation.

"Do you remember my explanation about how the people in my era divide up time for us to make things easier? And how we gave the days names and dates, and then created the twelve months that add up to a year, Inuyasha?"

At his nod of the affirmative she continued, "Well, it's really simple, New Year's Eve is the last day of a year and exactly at midnight we go into the next. We're in the few last hours of the year right now. It's a really big holiday celebrated all over the world."

"And this is really important in your time?" Kagome could feel him start to soften at the barriers, meaning she was only a few moments away from returning to her family on the other side of the well. His curiosity was usually the first sign of success.

Kagome bobbed her head excitedly, "It sure is! There are festivals, people dressing up, lots of music and of course fireworks! Everyone I know gets into the festivities."

Inuyasha's ears where pinned down to his silver-hair-covered skull, this along with the sullen sound of his voice alerted Kagome to the fact that something was up with her hanyou companion, "Well I guess I can't stop you from going then..."

"Why don't you come with me Inuyasha? You could see and experience the whole thing for yourself!" The raven-haired girl praised herself for the idea when she saw Inuyasha's jump of surprise and his face light up with a mixture of emotions, too many to name.

"Really?" He sounded suspicious, but his eyes gave away the hope he was feeling. He cursed himself mentally for getting worked up over one simple suggestion. It's not like he cared about this tradition in Kagome's time, or the fact that she was going to be leaving him-_them _once again.

"Absolutely! It'll be so much fun! Come on Inuyasha, let's go now, the New Year's not going to wait for us!" With that Kagome grabbed the half-human, half-demon's clawed hand and dragged him down the well with, though he wasn't all that reluctant either.

**~*~*~**

"Oh, Kagome dear! You're here! And you brought Inuyasha! That's wonderful!" Mrs Higurashi greeted kindly with her motherly smile as she walked up to the two of them, giving each a hug—much to Inuyasha's surprise—and her daughter a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah, thought we could use a few extra hands, and Inuyasha was curious about how we welcome in the New Year," Kagome winked to him and a distinct rosy hue was detectable over the bridge of his nose, though he had no idea as to why.

"Keh!"

"Well, you're more than welcome to join us with the celebrations, Inuyasha. We're going to the local park later on tonight for their usual big festival and for the countdown," Mrs Higurashi informed her daughter, who clapped her hands together excitedly.

"Today is going to be some much fun! What do you want us to do first, Mama?"

"Oh, could you two be dears and help out your grandfather Kagome, I think I saw a few new visitors bustling around the grounds just before you arrived," she kindly requested, placing a hand on her cheek as she pondered over any over tasks she may have had for them.

"Sure thing, let's go!" Kagome called out cheerfully, thrusting her arms in the air with enthusiasm and joyfully skipped off in search of her grandfather, leaving a bewildered Inuyasha to follow after her. Kagome's mother—who was currently giggling—walked back into the house, going to check on the youngest of the family and to ensure he was doing his specially designated chores.

**~*~*~**

"Tell me again why we're working our butts off?" Inuyasha grumbled as he lifted a heavy cardboard box onto a top shelf in one of the storage rooms, Kagome grabbing a small one from a further down ledge.

Kagome answered breezily, not phased at all by her companion's attitude, knowing he was deeply fascinated by the ways of her time, "Because, the sooner we get all these jobs done and out of the way, we can go out and enjoy ourselves.

"Hmph. Whatever. What was all that hubbub those old geezers were going on about before? Something about revelation?" Inuyasha wondered, dusting off his hands.

Out of the corner of his eye he witnessed Kagome suddenly loose her balance on the wooden stool she had been standing on. He swiftly dashed over to steady her before she fell, placing his hands on her waist, causing them both to adorn crimson blushes.

Then, after registering the words uttered from Inuyasha's mouth, Kagome muffled a chuckle, "Inuyasha! Those were Grandpa's friends! You can't talk about them like that!" She scowled, however a little half-heartedly, "And you mean _resolution_, not revelation."

"Keh!" Was his intelligent reply.

"A resolution is sort of like a goal someone makes that they want to fulfil sometime through the year. You get a lot of different ones too," Kagome enlightened, both of them now walking out the storage room within a tiny shrine.

"Like what?"

"Anything really. To be kinder this year than they were the last, or to do a good deed, giving up something they should have a long time ago, for example: smoking, or try something new," Kagome found that coming up with an example that would best help to answer Inuyasha's question was a lot harder than she first thought.

'_Oh! ' _"Alright, let's use an example from back on the other side of the well. Um, okay, well, to defeat Naraku and complete the Shikon no Tama could count as one. For Miroku, being less perverted would be an exceptional New Year's resolution."

Inuyasha snorted and then muttered, "As if that monk would even try to accomplish that. So, it's just like making a wish that you have to make come true, right?" Kagome blinked at his simple analogy and slapped herself mentally for not thinking of it that way in the first place.

"Exactly," she beamed at him, then skipped ahead when she saw her mother standing outside of the kitchen door, cradling an unidentifiable in her arms preciously.

"There you are Kagome! I have your kimono here. It's starting to get dark, we'll be leaving soon. You better go get changed." Mrs Higurashi provided the object now acknowledged as the kimono and pushed her daughter into the house.

"Uh..." Inuyasha stood standing unsure of what he was to do now...thankfully Kagome's mother came to the rescue by smiling sweetly and gesturing for him to take a seat on the couch.

"You won't need to wear anything different then you are now, I'm quite sure you could get away with your cute ears too!" And with that she went off to attend to 'the old man', commenting on how it'd been a while since he last worked his way into havoc.

"Hey Inuyasha!" Said boy turned his head slightly to see Kagome's younger brother, Souta, attempting to brush off the pet cat calico, Buyo, from jumping on his festive garb. It was similar to his grandfather's but not as old or ratty.

"Hi kid. You dressing up for this thing too?" He shuffled over from his position in the centre of the comfy, auburn coloured sofa to allow the younger boy room to join him, to which he did, grinning broadly also.

"Of course! New Year is so much fun! You're going to love the fireworks!"

"So everyone keeps telling me..." Inuyasha muttered softly, more to himself then the boy keeping him company at that moment.

The two triangular furry ears upon the top of his heard twitched slightly as he heard what could only be Kagome's footsteps lightly padding their way down the stairs. Getting up, he ventured over to join her, assuming they were to leave shortly as he could hear both the old coot and Mrs Higurashi chatter increase in volume as they loomed nearer.

He never did anticipate coming across the sight he did once reach his destination of the base of the staircase. His jaw dropped and eyes bugged wide open. _'Whoa...'_

Kagome was dressed in a silky, lavender kimono with sewn on imprints of white and faint pink cherry blossoms flying around in an elegant display. Her dark, raven hair was tied upswept in a tight bun, a graceful white clip holding it all together. Her feet were clad in traditional sandals. Inuyasha had never seen someone so beautiful.

"I-Inuyasha?" His intense gaze was unnerving her, along with his strong silence and she was concerned since she hadn't seen him breathe for a dramatically long few seconds.

Thankfully she observed him release a large gush of oxygen, accompanied by numeral blinks of the eyes. What was with him?

"Is-is that really you K-Kagome?" He stuttered, which was completely unlike him.

She cocked her head to the side, then swiftly back to its upright position, feeling the weight of her hair pulling faintly. She peered questioningly at him, unsure with where he was going with things, "Yes, why wouldn't it be, Inuyasha?"

"No reason, you're just so...angelic right there." Cue the strong, brightly glowing ten shades of scarlet on the cheeks of stupefied duo; unbelieving that Inuyasha had stated what he just had.

"Thank you," she had no idea what else to say. It was at that moment—thankfully—that her family decided to stroll over.

Kagome's mother gushed about how stunning her daughter looked and Kagome returned the compliments towards her mother's own sunrise-based kimono. The males all stood there feeling out-of-place, and interrupted when it occurred that the women would be babbling on for quite a while then.

"Alright, let's go now!" Souta demanded, shoving carefully on the back of his mother's outfit to get them heading out the door.

**~*~*~**

"..." Inuyasha was rendered speechless when they arrived at the local park Mama Higurashi had informed them off previously, as it had been transformed completely.

Brightly coloured streamers, balloons, lanterns, and any other decoration you could think of, bejewelled the area lavishly and then some. Music blared from some unknown source and Inuyasha had to pin down his ears to stop them from ringing. There were intoxicating smells, making mouths-water along with some not so pleasant scents. All this together made the half-demon a little uneasy, but when Kagome grabbed onto his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, he knew he could deal.

Especially when she didn't withdraw her smooth, delicate hand from his.

"I know it's a little overwhelming at first Inuyasha, but you'll get used to it soon enough. Just uh, when we count down to the new year...you might want to cover your ears or something, even my ears end up buzzing somewhat and they aren't even as sensitive as yours," she advised, coming in close to whisper and actually be heard, their proximity creating goose bumps on his skin, barely visible but still there.

"You guys are trying to purposely make yourselves go deaf?" He queried incredulously.

Kagome thought about it for a second and shrugged carelessly, "In a way, I guess, but this is a once in a year occasion, it's worth the loud noise when you have such an enjoyable time." Inuyasha just scoffed.

"So, what do you want to check out first, Inuyasha?"

**~*~*~**

"Uh...Kagome? Everyone's gathering around here all of a sudden," Inuyasha pointed out to her, feeling edgy with so many people crowding around them.

"Well yeah, it's almost time for the countdown...," Kagome meandered off from what she was saying when her gaze landed on his bemused expression, realization hitting her like a slap in the face. "Oh shoot, I didn't explain the concept of the countdown, did I?"

"No, stupid. You didn't."

Not letting his insults affect her ecstatic and bubbly mood, she rushed into the elucidation, hoping he'd comprehend before the actually thing began.

"It's when we count down the last ten seconds of this year and when we reach the end we scream 'Happy New Year!' to welcome in this newest one. Pretty simple and what everyone waits for, and then the partying really starts." Inuyasha nodded, believing he got the gist of it.

"So this happens when?"

"Shortly. We have roughly five to ten minutes left. Are you going to make a New Year's resolution, Inuyasha?" Kagome dared to ask, but predicting a negative response.

"Is it necessary?" Was his only answer.

"Well, no, but it's always nice to think of one." _'If he mentions anything about Kikyo I think my heart would break...' _Kagome thought solemnly.

Inuyasha made a 'hmm'ing sound and Kagome held her breathe, then let it out with a _whoosh _when she couldn't any longer. Inuyasha chose then to finally speak up, "Well, I guess I resolve for....the usual, defeating Naraku and kicking that wimpy wolf's hide." _'And to keep protecting you Kagome...' _he added silently.

'_That's it?' _Kagome let out a dry chuckle, '_guess I couldn't expect much else from Inuyasha, still, it's something all of us in the feudal era are striving for.' _Kagome smiled serenely, nodding in acceptance to Inuyasha's decision.

"Fair enough."

"Well, wench? What about you? What are you 'resolving' to do?" Inuyasha brashly commented, seeming to have been waiting long enough as it was to find out the answer.

"Oh! Whoops, my bad. I would say that my New Year's resolution is...to take every day as it comes, enjoy every moment as I can and not take anything for granted, whether it be a hot spring in a forest, a lazy day or two at Kaede's hut, the relief that we're all okay after another encounter with Naraku or Sesshomaru, or some other demon.

" And to appreciate my family more, I doubt many people can say they have a mother and grandfather that allows them to jump down a well to the warring states era of Japan to fight demons with a half-demon and group, whilst missing out on weeks of school at a time. And claim that their younger brother covers her when it comes to falling behind by getting extra notes for her to study from and keep in the know about upcoming tests," she took a deep breath.

"If I can keep doing this, for even beyond the year, then I'd be very much happy, along with a few other minor things..." she murmured the last part, thinking of some emotions buzzing around between a few people, including her.

"Wench, that should count for more than one resolution," Inuyasha counted, feeling proud for his Kagome expressing even more of her generous, pure heart, thinking that she had to thank people even more.

"Maybe you should resolve to cut back you're cussing," she retorted, though also commented on the genius of that one, and how unlikely it was he'd fulfil it.

"Kagome!"

At her name being chorused by the sound of numeral voices, Kagome tilted her head back a bit to see her three friends from school in a huddle a fair distance away from them, but also close enough to be heard when they screamed their lungs out, which they were experts at. They were currently flailing some banners around maniacally. She waved to them, but didn't make a move to join their group, seeing as the crowd was too thick, and she much rather indulge in Inuyasha's presence. Instead she just mouthed a 'hi' and a 'talk to you later', which they eagerly nodded to.

All of a sudden everyone around them began to call out at once,

"Ten!

Nine!

Eight!"

"Here we go Inuyasha, the end of this year and the beginning of a brand new one, may it be all the better than the last and full of many lasting memories for us to enjoy in." Kagome prayed, and jolted when she felt Inuyasha reach his arm around her shoulder possessively and compassionately at the same time.

"Seven!

Six!

Five!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself...Kagome."

They both chorused the rest of the countdown in unison. Their voices complete opposites in timbre yet melding together in synchronisation perfectly, creating a sweet melody like yin and yang, not that you could depict through all the yelling.

"Four!

Three!

Two!

One!"

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" At then that fireworks went off, Inuyasha had already prepared himself and was thankful for Kagome's warning, as much as his hair muffled the sounds, he still felt a little disorientated from all the sounds, smells and piecing illuminations.

All the same, he was enjoying himself immensely, especially with Kagome snuggling into his side. He heard her say to him in a contented tone, "Happy New Year Inuyasha."

He tightened his hold on her, hearing her sigh happily, "Yeah, you too. Happy New Year, Kagome."

Then and there he decided to make another silent resolution in his head that echoed afterwards, _'I will confess to you one day...Kagome...'_

Meanwhile, unaware of Inuyasha's thoughts, decisions and future intentions, Kagome was reminiscing on the day that had just passed, it was now a memory from last year, and she felt it was an extremely good omen for this year.

She had been through a lot that past year, and she knew she had a lot more to battle through, the all did. But it was a new beginning, time to wash off the entirety of negative ambiance and start anew.

Kagome smiled at Inuyasha and he smiled back, timidly, but definitely a genuine smile. _'All of this, the usual routine from the shrine, dressing up, partying here, it was all a bundle of fun, but, in the end, all I needed to enjoy the beginning of a New Year was you._

_Happy New Year...Inuyasha.'_

**Eh? You like? I do, for my first posted piece of work. Thanks are given out to Soulless Lover, a dear friend of mine who motivates me to write and reads over what I do come up with. Also I give gratitude to Plawere who read and critiqued this, without these two my account would still be lacking some written pieces of mine.**

**Thanks in addition to:**

**Jwelstone**

**Kurinju-sama**

**Notes and Photographs**

**Inuyashafan424567**

**And anyone and everyone else who I have read and reviewed for. Being a part of is an experience I thoroughly enjoy.**

**Ah, I am the sentimental one. Please review, they are greatly appreciated.**

**Have fun and HAPPY BELATED NEW YEAR!**

**kagomesbutterflyfeeling**


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